Ceramic vessel 11023. Burial mound 11. Cemetery of Tutugi

Spectroscopic analysis

Mineral analysis of red decoration.

Non destructive. Surface cleaning. Sample pretreatment is not required. Direct measurement.

Micro-Raman Spectroscopy (MRS)

Renishaw ‘in via’ Reflex Spectrometer coupled with a confocal Leica DM LM microscope (CICT, University of Jaén), equipped with a diode laser (785 nm, 300 mW), and a Peltier-cooled CCD detector, calibrated to the 520.5 cm-1 line of silicon.

X-Ray Fluorescence

Elemental analysis of red decoration.

Non destructive. Surface cleaning. Sample pretreatment is not required. Direct measurement.

Energy dispersive X- ray fluorescence (EDXRF)

EDAX (model Eagle III) fluorescence spectrometer (CITI, University of Seville). This spectrometer is equipped with a microfocus X-ray tube with an Rh anode, a polycapillary lens for X-ray focussing, and an 80 mm2 energy dispersive Si-(Li) detector. The sample chamber incorporates an XYZ motorized stage for sample positioning. A high resolution microscope is used to position the sample on the desired distance from the polycapillary. To increase the sensitivity of the low Z elements, the sample chamber can be brought under vacuum. For the analysis of the samples, a spot size of 300 µm was chosen at an operating X-ray tube voltage of 40 kV. The tube current was adapted for each sample in order to optimise the detection of X-rays.